Improvement in ticket-boxes for railroad-cars



" NITED STA ES PATENT 1 GEORGE o. THOMAS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK;

Sgecilication forming part ofLetters Patent No. 146,108, dated December 30, 1873; application filed May 14, 1873.

ticket-collector to look and unlock a row of such boxes from the end of the series-an object which I attain in the manner which I will now proceed to describe, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which-- Figure 1 represents the two end boxes of a series, Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of the boxes in respect to the windows and seats; Fig. 3, a vertical section on the line 1.2, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a perspective view, showing the de vice for retaining and releasing the doors of the boxes; and Fig. 5, a vertical section, full size, of the lower portion of each box.

A and A, Fig. 1, represent the opposite end boxes of a series, secured one series to each side of the car, each box occupying a position in relation to the window and seat. (Shown in Fig. 2.) Toy the front of each box is fitted a pane, D, of glass, and the interior of the box is separated into two compartments by a vertical partition, F, which may extend downward to within a short distance from the bottom of the box. In the top of the box are openings, which are closed by receiving-blocks B B, so pivoted to the box at a that each block can, by elevating its lip b, be turned partly round, thereby exposing the receptacle 0 of the block for the introduction therein of a ticket, which,

on restoring the block to its former position,

is discharged onto a tilt, c, pivoted within the box at d, andmaintained in the inclined position shown, with its lower edge against the pane of glass, so as to retain the ticket discharged from the block B in a position where it can beeasily observed by the conductor as he passes through the car. The devices above described form no part of my present invention; hence it will suffice to remark here that, 011 raising the lip b, and thereby turning the block B, a trigger, f, on the latter will so act on the tilt as to release the ticket. The bot tom of each box consists of an inclined door, hinged at 00, as best observed in the enlarged sectional view, Fig. 5, so that when uufastened the front edge of the door can be lowered, and the tickets thereon discharged. The door is secured by a sliding bolt, G, the front end of which enters a recess in the glazed frame D, which forms the front of the box. The looking and unlocking ofthis bolt depend upon the position of the sliding bar H, which extends through the whole of the boxes of the series, and is under the control of two locks, one of which is situated near eachend of the series of boxes. The sliding bar H, at the point where it passes through each box,has two notches, g g, as best observed in the perspective view, Fig. 4, the notches bearing such relation to the inner end of the bolt G that, when either notch is opposite to the latter, the said bolt can be retracted from therecess in the glazed frame by manipulating a knob, m, thereby releasing the door E. (See Fig. 5.) At or near each end boxA and A! only of the series is a look, I, through which passes the sliding bar H, the latter having a notch, c, for

receiving an ordinary spring-bolt in the lock,

which bolt can be retracted by a key in the possession of the authorized ticket-collector, each notch being abrupt on one side, and incliiied on the other, as shown in Fig. 4, for a purpose explained hereafter. When the doors of all the boxes are locked, the position" of the notches g g, in respect to the bolt G of each box, will be that shown in the perspective view, Fig. 4.

When it becomes necessary to collect the tickets deposited in the various boxes, the officer on whom this duty devolves enters the car, and, by means of hiskey, withdraws the spring-bolt of the lock of the end boxof the series from the notch c of the bar H, which is then at liberty to be pulled longitudinally until the bar is arrested by any suitable stop at a point where one of each pair of notches 9 coincides with the bolt G of each box, this pulling of the bar H being permitted by the inclined side of the notch 0, adapted to the bolt of the lock on the box at the far end of the series and at the opposite end of the car. The bolts G of all the boxes being now at liberty to be retracted, the doors are opened in succession,

and, after the withdrawal of the tickets, are closed and bolted. On reaching the end box of the series, after having removed the tickets from the boxes and closed and bolted all the doors, the officer has simply to pull the sliding bar back to its original position, when the spring-bolt of the lock I of the box first operated on will take its place in the notch e, and the whole of the boxes will be locked. The oflicer can then proceed to unlock the series of boxes on the opposite side of the car, and,

having removed the contents, may lock the series in the manner described above, and then repeat the same duties in another car.

,,It is not essential, in carrying out my invention, that the bar H. should have the two notches g g for each box, and two locks, one for each end box, as one look might be arranged to secure the whole series of boxes through the medium of a communicating bar or its equivalent; but this would necessarily inconvenience the ofiicer in charge, for he would be compelled to make two trips through the car; hence I prefer the above-described arrangement, which is such that the officer, the moment he enters the car, can commence his duties, and prosecute the same as he proceeds, without the necessity of going over the same ground twice.

The bar need not be continued throughout the whole length of the series of boxes. A short bar, for instance, may extend through each box, and the series of bars may be connected together by chains or wires.

I claim as my invention- 1. A series of boxes having doors with locks, in combination with a bar, H, or its equivalent, whereby all the doors can be either locked or unlocked simultaneously, as set forth.

2. In combination with the door-bolts G of a series of ticket boxes and the notched oar H, common to all the boxes, a look at or near each end box of the series, for retaining and releasing the bar, all substantially as described.

GEORGE G. THOMAS. 

